For startup owners, the launch of their product is a big moment for them. They want to try everything they learn and know about products while planning the launch. The end result is that they spread their efforts thin across different directions. With limited resources and tight budgets, startups need to have a strategy in place before launching their products.
Over 90% of startups fail because they don’t have a solid go-to-market (GTM) strategy in place.
A GTM strategy will enable the startups to make a step-by-step plan for launching their new product in the market. Each team member will be provided with a clearly defined plan to help them achieve the expected milestones.
A well-defined GTM strategy will help the startup reach the right audience at the right time and with the right messaging. It will help them build their reputation, drive sales, and generate revenue. It’s the essential first step on the road to success.
To build a perfect GTM strategy, the startup will have to identify a problem they are trying to solve through the product, define their target audience, decide on the key message they want to deliver throughout, and implement the strategy.
However, it’s not as simple as it seems.
To build a perfect GTM strategy, the startup will have to overcome the following three challenges.
The Three GTM Challenges That Startups Face And How To Overcome Them
1. Lack of skilled talent
23% of startups fail due to a lack of skilled talent. Skilled resources are the secret sauce for building great products. Startups that are launching their first product need people who are skilled, self-driven, and experienced enough to work independently. Ideally, they would prefer to hire a diverse team that’s up for new challenges. However, finding such skilled talent can be a challenge for startups. They cannot afford high-skilled resources, or the resources are not keen on joining if the business is not as attractive as AI or cryptocurrency.
Here’s what Jason Crawford, the co-founder of Fieldbook, had to say about their failure.
“I was blindsided by the difficulty of hiring. Hiring was something I’d done successfully for years, including in the early days of Fieldbook and in a previous startup. But at a time when every engineer wanted to work on AI, self-driving cars or cryptocurrencies, a SaaS startup with modest, sporadic growth wasn’t very attractive.”
Even if the startup manages to build a skilled team, they need experts who can lead them and create a successful product. Finding the right expert or specialist can be a challenge too. Apart from the cost of hiring, startups don’t know how to harness their potential. Sometimes the startups may compromise on the quality of talent. But that would prove to be expensive for them and lead to inefficiencies within the team. Without an expert, the team could become directionless, which could derail the GTM strategy.
Staff augmentation or outsourcing to a trustworthy partner could help startups save money and at the same time leverage the knowledge and experience of skilled experts to build a good product.
2. Wrong choice of technologies
Startup owners are often tempted to use new technologies and insist on using them instead of simple alternatives. This could prove to be expensive for the startup if not done strategically. According to Ipsos’ research, only 46% of startups can use the same technologies as large enterprises. They may also have to hire resources with special skillsets to use the technology. Other factors such as compromises on security and the inability to keep pace with the technology changes can also result in GTM delays. A wrong technology choice could also increase the startup’s technical debt and eventually lead to delays in product launches. Without a technology expert, it’s almost impossible for startups to build a successful product.
That’s why it’s important to seek advice from experts and choose the right technology at an early stage of building the product. This will help the startup save money and enable them to launch the product on time.
Here’s a hack that Blair Williams of MemberPress shared on choosing technologies.
“Many owners think that they need the industry’s best tools to do things correctly, and many sophisticated tools also need advanced skills to make the best use of them. However, there are free or cheaper alternatives that provide exactly what you need for your business, and you’re better off starting with a simple or free tool. If you use them well and find you need more, then buy an advanced tool.”
3. Feature bloats
Every startup would love to launch a product with all the features in the market. But is that the right approach to launching a product? Technology experts might say no! Tempting as it might be, startup founders will have to stop themselves from releasing a product bloating with features. Building a product with extra features is time-consuming and could also result in GTM delay. A product with unnecessary features can ruin the user’s experience and even increase the churn.
Experts advise startups to build a minimum viable product (MVP). It means building a product with just the core features that differentiates them from competitors. The benefit of an MVP is that the startup will be able to save time and money and launch the product on time. But more importantly, the first-hand feedback from users will enable them to focus on what matters the most – making incremental improvements to the product.
Conclusion
Overcoming these challenges would enable the startup to build a strong GTM strategy, accelerate the launch, and improve the quality of the product based on users’ feedback.
We, at Zingworks, offer a full range of software solutions from building an MVP to a market-ready version to help startups grow their business.
To know how we can help, contact us.
